The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California, has unveiled a particular exhibit paying tribute to maybe essentially the most well-known sports-sedan-turned-racing-icon, the BMW 3 Sequence, because it reaches its fiftieth yr. Riffing on BMW’s longstanding “The Final Driving Machine” slogan, the Petersen exhibit is titled “The Final Racing Machine” and options 11 examples of this legendary automobile, stretching from 1978 by way of to 2024.
The three Sequence had huge wheeltracks to fill, changing the beloved and profitable ’02 mannequin which additionally scored some successes on monitor, notably (in 2002 type) the 1970 Nurburgring 24 Hours and (in 2002ti type) the 1971 European Rally Championship. However the 3 Sequence (and latterly, in coupe type, the 4 Sequence) reset the parameters of touring automobile success.
Offered in partnership with BMW, the Petersen’s show traces the evolution of the three Sequence by way of all seven generations, showcasing its influence on motorsport and the marque’s heritage. Thomas Plucinsky, head of BMW Group Traditional USA, stated: “The unique BMW 3 Sequence and now the BMW 3 Sequence and its ‘fraternal twins’ the 4 Sequence are the core of the BMW model. ‘The Final Racing Machine’ exhibit brings collectively seven of essentially the most profitable and necessary race automobiles – one from every era mixed with a few splendidly preserved avenue examples together with one of many three remaining, V8-powered, M3 GTR Straßenversion.”
However maybe there isn’t any wilder automobile on show than the Group 5 BMW 320i, a mannequin that was raced in its time by the likes of Gilles Villeneuve, Marc Surer, Hans-Joachim Caught and Eddie Cheever. Its dramatic wheel arch extensions, slice-your-shins entrance splitter, pram-handle rear wing and roof spoiler from classes discovered with the CSL’s aero bundle, is a visible assault. The truth that a two-liter four-cylinder unit, pumped out over 300hp makes the automobile additional particular, though it’s value noting that the IMSA GTU automobiles with turbochargers squeezed out 600hp!
A 3 Sequence assortment wouldn’t be full with out one of the profitable touring automobiles in historical past, the E30 mannequin M3, and the instance on present on the Petersen is a 1992 mannequin from DTM racing, with a 2.5-liter engine now changing the unique’s 2.3, and producing 375hp. This explicit automobile scored two wins within the arms of Steve Soper. By the point the E30 was changed, it had captured 19 nationwide touring automobile titles around the globe, had twice received the European Touring Automobile Championship, captured the 1987 World Touring Automobile Championship, and made the three Sequence so well-known that automobile reviewers named the sports activities compact phase of the market after the automobile.
The crisp but aerodynamic strains of the E36 mannequin, which was the primary six-cylinder M3, have been dramatically embellished for the GT mannequin proven right here, with its flared entrance and rear wheel arches, and the PTG-run automobile displayed right here received its class on the Rolex 24 of Daytona in 1997, the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1997 and ’98, and took residence wins within the 1997 and 1998 Drivers’ and Producers’ Championships within the GT2 class.
Many individuals cite the E46 as their favourite 3 Sequence, and wax lyrical over the M3 mannequin’s driving dynamics – significantly in CSL type – in addition to its look, however there’s particular reverence for the GTR. On this mannequin, the three.2-liter inline-six was changed by a four-liter V8 that even in avenue type had one thing approaching 400hp. Jorg Muller wrung essentially the most out of the 500hp racing mannequin to seize the IMSA GT title in 2001 with 4 wins.
In fact, this is able to result in the E90/92/93 M3s turning into V8 as normal and the M3 GT coupe (E92) grew to become a staple of the American Le Mans Sequence (ALMS) and World Endurance Championship (WEC). The 2011 automobile on present on the Petersen raced within the ALMS as a part of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s partnership with BMW North America and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. It achieved 4 victories within the arms of Joey Hand and Dirk Muller, contributing to BMW’s clear sweep of ALMS GT titles in 2011, and received each the 2011 and 2012 Sebring 12 Hours.
For the sixth-gen, BMW launched the 4 Sequence nameplate to differentiate the F32 two-door coupe from the F30 3 Sequence four-door sedan. The M3 and M4 highway automobiles had an identical energy vegetation – again to straight-sixes however with twin turbochargers, producing 425hp – the competitors automobiles have been based mostly on the sleeker M4. However in 2019, the DTM sequence, one of many cornerstones of BMW motorsport actions, outlawed the V8s that had been its staple since 2000, and introduced in new guidelines forcing its OEMs to run extra gasoline environment friendly turbocharged inline-fours. The 2020 automobile on show is that of former Indy automobile racer and F1 driver Timo Glock, and whereas it appears each bit as aggressive because the F32 DTM fashions of earlier years, beneath its hood lies a two-liter “4”… that produces 610hp!
The latest automobile within the show is the GT4 model of the most recent M4, the G82/83 mannequin as used within the IMSA Michelin Pilot Problem, the SRO GT4 America and the VP Racing SportsCar Problem. It makes use of the turbocharged three-liter straight-six, which generates 550hp, and this explicit instance comes courtesy of the BMW Efficiency Heart.
In addition to the racing automobiles on present, the show options highway automobiles, too, together with a tasty E21 320i from 1983, nonetheless wanting elegant regardless of the federal regulation bumpers that added six inches to its total size, a really uncommon 1995 light-weight M3 from the E36 period, and as Plucinsky highlighted, the even rarer – simply three manufacturing automobiles – avenue model of the V8 M3 GTR.
Petersen’s BMW 3 Sequence will run till July 2026.
